While visiting Kaliningrad in 2004, I made the obligatory trip to Kant Island to inspect the cathedral and the great philosopher's tomb on a sunny spring afternoon. During my stroll, a steady flow of bridal parties visited the tomb to celebrate marriage vows, drink champagne, and have their photographs taken. As a scholar of Soviet culture and sometimes resident of Moscow, I immediately recognized this phenomenon - having many times witnessed similar groups at the Kremlin, Smotrovaia Ploshadka, and Victory Park in Moscow. I was intrigued by the adaptation of this Soviet marriage ritual in Kaliningrad, where the philosopher's tomb became a beacon for the erotic display of brides. What an improbable spectacle - a mixture of lace, roses, lipstick, champagne, and historical materialism. I was also struck by the morbidity of this erotic display -philosophical analogues to the brides of Dracula.

I have designated the entire series of photographs of brides made at Kant's tomb a readymade, a cultural artifact that sits between the boundaries of art and everyday life. At my request, the NCCA has begun compiling an archive of these bridal photographs. As with Marcel Duchamp's readymades, the idea or concept is primary, while the actual execution of this project is void of any sort of aesthetic delectation. Ordered chronologically, the collected photographs function as a record of a particular place over time. In effect, this archive is a photographic chronotope, a concept of the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtein. The photographs record changes in wedding practices, fashion, politics, the physical condition of Kant's Tomb, and even in photography itself.

M. Dinahet. "Marriage", photo collage, 2004

As this potentially infinite archive grows, I will compile the responses of diverse individuals: anthropologists, fashion historians, architectural conservationists, employees of the local Kaliningrad marriage registry (ZAGES), psychologists, philosophers, florists, and an artist obsessed by Duchamp's Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even. Here is the first response to Kant's Brides, from a Kantian philosopher:

It is interesting to speculate why this pilgrimage to Kant's tomb should have become a part of the culture of marriage in this community. Kant is, without doubt, the most famous of Kalingrad's sons and this fact alone might make such a pilgrimage popular. However, it is more satisfying to imagine that the married couple who make this pilgrimage want to be seen to be acknowledging the importance of their marriage as a moral commitment since Kant is probably known to the community as the philosopher who taught us to respect each other as persons, to never treat each other simply as a means to an end. Marriage, as a moral institution, is founded upon mutual respect so that a couple who have their picture taken before Kant's tomb have, in effect, declared their mutual respect for each other. This is a plausible speculation since it is safe to assume that few visitors to the tomb would be aware that Kant himself never married though he was certainly in favour of the institution. In his youth he could not marry because he was impoverished and when, at forty-six, he could afford to marry he had settled into a routine that left no room for marriage. So if we wish to believe that the pilgrimage is not simply a ritual devoid of any connection to the philosopher's teachings, we must, I think, take this rather satisfying view that the philosopher's teachings have not been in vain and that anyone who marries in Kalingrad-and makes the pilgrimage-is marrying for the right reasons. (Dr. David Ward, Philosophy Department, University of Otago, New Zealand)